Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Minutes - Tiggy Johnson

Minutes

I glance at the clocksure half an hour’s passed.A minute has. One minute.I look at the ceiling. Suppress tears.Wonder if fifty years will passbefore hand-over time.I circle the room, movingin slow, steady steps.Need to clear my mind.Need to stop the noise.It hurts to stand. To walk.But the screaming’s subsiding.I persist. Focus on the pain,hope it’ll block the noise.Son cradled in my armsstill crying, but not so desperate.I want to look at the clock again, butI expect only another minutehas passed and I don’t want to count,one by one, the twenty-eight minutesuntil I expect my husband back.I hum. Sing. ‘Hush little baby...’I rock as the words screechHe seems to be calming. I hope.The verse is finished and I don’t knowwhat the next one is, what happensto the diamond ring?I have to think. Need to knowBut the words don’t come in timeHe cries louder, I’m rocking, humming.The diamond ring? I have to know.‘Hush little baby...’ The diamond ring?‘If that mockingbird...’ Shit. The ring?The clock. Twenty-four minutes to go.I walk quickly as if it’ll help me remember.Then, it comes. I smile. Relieved.‘If that diamond ring don’t shine...’Hum the rest. What if it doesn’t shine?But I’m over it. Couldn’t care less.I repeat the first line. Over. And over.The crying stops. He’s looking at me.Smiling? He’s tiny. Cute. Mine.Still has that new baby smell.Can’t help but to smile back.‘Hush little baby...’ I’m still walking circles.‘Daddy’s gonna buy...’ I hear a car in the driveway.Move to the front window. Sing ‘Daddy’s home.’But I’ve forgotten it’s hand-over time andDaddy walks in and kisses both of us.‘Hush little baby...’

About Me

I'm Ashley Capes and 'kipple' is something I look after while co-editing online mag 'holland1945' (www.holland1945.net.au) and help out with Issa's Snail, a renku group. (http://issassnail.wordpress.com) I have also been an editor of print mag Egg(Poetry) and sing in a band. My first collection of poetry 'pollen and the storm' (2008) was published with the assistance of Small Change Press. In 2009 my second collection is due to be published by Interactive Press. (http://ashleycapes.wordpress.com)